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A new feature of our website: Free articles you can download for your own home or workplace Disaster Survival information. "Down and Dirty" means we give it to you straight. Real stuff, personal and professional opinions, sometimes links for our visitors out there. The first article in this series is: First Aid Kits: Buyer Beware | ||||
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There are thousands of websites selling First Aid Kits & Supplies. They are as numerous as flies at a garbage dump, and some are just about as useful. Scams come under all titles and categories. There are lots of people out to make a buck on the earthquake and terrorist scare with websites of dubious integrity. Here’s one we picked at random (we found dozens that were similar) to talk about and give you a clue what to watch out for. Here's a bold heading we found on a large website selling a wide array of first aid kits. This was on its "Disaster Kits" page:
To be fair, that’s not the whole list; there were some other items such as a pair of scissors and a tweezer, one splint, and 10 tablets each of: aspirin, Tylenol, and Motrin. Oh yes, and this miraculous kit that "is good for up to 100 people" comes in a plastic box that is 10x14 inches in size, and 3 inches deep. All this is only $42.95! (No offense, but it's likely most mothers have a better first aid kit in their purse, on any normal day.) And yet, people will buy it, even though common sense could have told them that this kit was not going to be adequate for any kind of serious trauma injury, for even ONE person, let alone 100 people. Advertising is powerful though, and words can be deceiving without being illegal. For Example: remember the headline for this first aid kit? here it is again:
What exactly is the “OSHA medical group”? If there is such a thing, they didn't say on this website, and there is no address, URL, or link to it. This is clearly intended to suggest that this first aid kit and its seller have been approved and recommended by the State or Federal OSHA we are all familiar with. I assure you, no State or Federal OSHA agencies make recommendations or endorse any particular maker or seller of any first aid products. That’s not the business they’re in. Then at the bottom of the web page they've placed this little addendum, as if they are a representative for OSHA, stating OSHA’s mission as if it were their own:
Notice that at the end of the quote they have placed a link to the actual Federal OSHA site (which anybody can do, without them even knowing about it). This is done to suggest that they are somehow connected to, or an agency of, the Federal Occupational Safety and Heath Administration. (They are not, of course.) Unfortunately, websites like this are not illegal in any way, and they are a booming business. It’s “Caveat Emptor” (Let the buyer beware) and just about anything goes, as long as it’s not outright false or illegal. And even when it is, the scammers are very hard to catch. Because of the very nature of the internet (it’s instantaneous) someone can take your money and if they get caught they can just disappear, and come back in a few days with a new name, a new server, and a new website. So please shop carefully! Check out many, many website first aid supply stores first before you buy. And then when you do, expect to need to add quite a few things to your kit after that, because we have found only one or two, anywhere, that we thought might be adequate for a true disaster, for even a neighborhood's worth of hurt people. But we’re still looking. If you know of any, please let us know so we can check them out and pass them on. (click here for an email note) disasterfirstaid@gmail.com Our site, and the book “Disaster First Aid - What To Do When 911 Can’t Come” have always recommended that you “roll your own” first aid kit by starting with a strong, water-resistant bag with lots of pockets, and filling it with the things you will really need when the earthquake or other disaster actually comes close to you and yours. Rules of thumb when you build your own First Aid Kit: First of all - Think big. Serious wounds can’t be helped much with itty-bitty band-aids. For some suggestions, there’s a list of supplies that we personally and professionally recommend. It’s a page from our book. (If you want to go there. Clicking opens a new window so you don't lose your place: "DFA First Aid Kits and Supplies.") This list is a pretty good starting-point, then you should customize your kit with whatever else you feel you need. There's also a page on how to improvise home-made medical supplies, like they did in World War I. "How To Improvise" (If you want to, go ahead and take a look and then come back; we'll wait.) Doing your own first aid kit helps get you in touch with your neighbors and your family. (Kids love helping with it.) But these days of course, time is always a scarce commodity, so sometimes it's well worth making a reasonable-sized investment to have someone else do this for you. Just be a wise and careful buyer. Rules of thumb when purchasing a pre-packed first aid kit: Look for bigger sizes of things. In a disaster, you don't need 50 bandaids and only 10 4x4' pads - you need several hundred 4x4's in big, grabbable packages of 100 per package. You need 1-inch wide, or wider, plastic tape and cloth tape, maybe 6 or more rolls. You need roller bandages/gauze or cloth strips, lots of them. If you or someone in your family or household takes any prescribed medications on a regular basis, you should have a 3 to 5 day supply in your kit. (Check expiration dates monthly and rotate the supply.) Also, you can save space in your kit by learning how to make splints out of materials that will already be around, like scrap cardboard, styrofoam, etc. Have a good flashlite or battery-powered lantern in your kit. ('light-sticks" are pretty useless). For sure, have several aluminized mylar "space blankets" in your kit. These are real life-savers. They should cost about $3 in army surplus stores, more in camping stores. And we think kit-bags that are set up as zippered backpacks, or framed canvas bags or luggage with wheels, are a good idea. Visibility and grab-ability are foremost. Don't buy anything online without reading and comparing the list of contents! One kit even by the same seller may have a fancier name and cost much more, but actually may have very little more inside. You might be better off to buy the lower-cost one and add the rest yourself. If your kit lives in your car or home, don't stock up for a zilllion people. Most of us should probably stock up for a dozen or less, or for our immediate family, plus maybe our next-door neighbors, or our office and coworkers. If you are setting up a Medical Supplies Kit for a bigger group like the business, the neighborhood, or a community center, get some other people involved. Buying in bulk* is usually much cheaper than the drugstore, and then you can divide up the supplies among several households. Get to know your neighbors; take a moment now and then. It's an old fashioned idea whose time has come around again. We all need somebody sometime. I don't know where you are, but we live and work in Northern California, where a major quake is dangerously overdue. My hope is that "the Big One" won't come in our lifetime, but I know it's more likely that it will. Terrorism now adds another uncertainty to all our lives all over the globe. No one can prepare for everything; there's no air-bag big enough to cover it all. We all need to be willing to help and be helped, and that's the way we will make it through whatever comes. | ||
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• http://www.simplerlife.com is a good source for bulk first aid supplies, emergency shelters & tents, other equipment. Good stuff, very good prices, many things not available elsewhere. We liked it a lot. http://www.simplerlife.com/nigmagforfla.html. This resource was sent to us by one of our Disaster First Aid family of users: Premera Blue Cross of Washington. - Pass it on. | ||
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Your questions and comments are always welcomed. Submit an article or request a topic: disasterfirstaid@gmail.com | ||
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This material may be freely distributed for nonprofit educational use. However, if quoted in publications either written or electronic, written credit must be stated for the author and DisasterFirstAid.com. Any and all commercial use of this material is strictly prohibited without the express written permission from the author. ©2005 V.Chames/ DisasterFirstAid.com | ||
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